Alba: Second founding member resigns from Alex Salmond's party over women's convener's trans comments

The Alba party has been rocked by a second resignation

A second founding member of the Alba party has resigned over a row on gender.

Denise Findlay, who was the party’s organisation convener until October last year, has left the party only a day after Alba’s equalities convener Eva Comrie resigned.

The pair said they had “fundamental disagreements” with the way Yvonne Ridley, the party’s women’s convener, described Alba’s policy on gender reform.

Alba party leader Alex Salmond at an event in Falkirk. Picture: Peter Summers/Getty Images

Ms Ridley had posted on X to say: “A trans woman is a woman assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity and may experience gender dysphoria.”

Ms Ridley has since deleted the post and stepped back from her role within the party, saying she “made a mistake” and blamed it on a “senior moment”.

On Monday, Ms Findlay announced her resignation from Alba, saying she had “the time of her life” and wished the party “every success”.

This comes after Ms Comrie accused Ms Ridley of being a “fraud”, saying: “[I remain] wholeheartedly committed to the policy of independence. I cannot surrender 40 years of professional work as a lawyer, and years politically representing and protecting women and their families on women’s rights.”

Party leader Alex Salmond has since written to members to say he regretted Ms Findlay and Ms Comrie’s resignations, and emphasised Ms Ridley’s comments were not party policy.

In a letter to members, Mr Salmond said: “Although Yvonne deleted her tweets and apologised for her mistake, the online row continued. As a result she is very distressed.”

The party, which was created in 2021, was against the proposed gender reforms put forward by the Scottish Parliament in 2022, which aimed to make it easier for a trans person to legally change their gender.

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The party says it believes women have the right to maintain sex-based protections set out in the Equality Act 2010.

Alba said: “These include female-only spaces such as changing rooms, hospital wards, sanitary and sleeping accommodations, refuges, hostels and prisons. Therefore, we believe women have the right to refuse consent to males in single-sex spaces or males delivering intimate services to females such as washing, dressing and counselling.”

MSP Ash Regan, who defected from the SNP last year and is now Alba’s sole parliamentarian in Holyrood, has stepped up as the party’s women’s convener.